zip, n.⁴ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

zip n.⁴

[zip n.¹ (1), i.e. their alleged lack of intelligence or abbr. zipperhead under zipper n.]

(US) a derog. term for a Vietnamese (or other Indo-Chinese) person; also as adj.

1970		Current Sl. V:1.
1971		Army Reporter Feb. in Maledicta VI:1+2 252: ‘Get some!’ screams the Hood. ‘Wow, did you zap that zip, papa-san!’.
1987		(con. 1967) Bunch & Cole Reckoning for Kings (1989) 23: You are going to be a general one of these years, if the zips don’t kill you. [Ibid.] 319: What a fucking armpit this is. Jesus, Mosby thought, if this is the home turf these zips want, why don’t we just let them have it?
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 200: I got a date with the younger zip brother this evening.
2011		(con. 1968) P.L. Nelson Incessant Voice of War 3: To him, all orientals are the same. Slopes, Gooks, Zips.